25/09/2026
International cooperation between 35 countries in Latin America, the Caribbean, Europe and other regions has made it possible to dismantle numerous criminal networks.
Coordination and cooperation between institutions and countries are crucial for cross-referencing information from different jurisdictions and taking simultaneous action against criminal networks. Through the European Union’s EL PACCTO 2.0 programme, amongst others, a number of meetings have been held to develop criminal profiles.
This cooperation has led to 35 countries from Latin America, the Caribbean, Europe and other regions coordinating Operation ATLAS NEXUS, which has enabled the identification and dismantling of dozens of transnational criminal networks in a coordinated international operation involving security forces, customs authorities and judicial authorities from Latin America, the Caribbean, Europe and other regions of the world. In terms of the volume of seizures and the number of countries involved, this is the largest joint operation against organised crime carried out to date between the two regions.
Led by the Belgian Federal Police, the operation was coordinated and carried out by European platforms and agencies, with the support of the European Union’s flagship programme EL PACCTO 2.0, which facilitated coordination between the various stakeholders on both sides of the Atlantic.
The operation has focused on five priority criminal markets: drug trafficking, human trafficking, document fraud, firearms trafficking and environmental crime, and has resulted in seizures totalling over 156 tonnes of drugs, as well as 201 firearms, 3,190 rounds of ammunition and explosives, 803 wild and farm animals, US$135,000 in cash and cryptocurrencies, 0.83 kg of gold, 169 properties, 464 items of jewellery, 468 forged documents and 1 vehicle. In addition, 18 victims have been rescued and given care.
When dealing with organisations operating on an international scale, intercepting shipments is not enough: the aim is to dismantle the structures that make them possible and deprive them of the resources that sustain them. Consequently, the most significant outcome lies not solely in the volume of the seizures – almost 160 tonnes – but in the number of criminal networks identified and dismantled. The more than 490 arrests are the result of the dismantling of multiple networks whose routes link the two regions.
More than 8,600 police officers and judicial authorities have taken part in various national operations to inspect 110 aircraft, 28 vessels, 415 vehicles and 271 containers at 28 designated checkpoints in ports, airports and on roads. A total of 595 search warrants have been executed.
PAcCTO 2.0 aims to take cooperation between justice and security actors in the European Union, Latin America and the Caribbean to the highest level through the investigation and prosecution of organised crime.
Its key objectives include strengthening collaboration between national and regional institutions in Latin America and the Caribbean, enhancing the capabilities of justice and security institutions in the fight against organised crime, and developing operational coordination amongst justice and security actors to investigate the main areas of organised crime activity.
The European Union’s EL PAcCTO 2.0 programme is joining forces with its partners in Latin America and the Caribbean to build an EU-LAC alliance on justice and security to combat transnational organised crime. It is led by Spain (FIAP) and involves collaboration with France (Expertise France and CIVIPOL), Portugal (Instituto Camões), Italy (IILA) and the Netherlands (Ministerie van Buitenlandse Zaken and Ministry of Justice and Security).
